The Story of Western Science: From the Writings of Aristotle to the Big Bang Theory

by Susan Wise Bauer

The Story of Science guides us to the original texts that have changed the way we think about our world, our cosmos and ourselves. Whether referenced individually or read together as the narrative of Western scientific development, the book's twenty-eight succinct chapters lead readers from the first science texts by Hippocrates, Plato and Aristotle through twentieth-century classics in biology, physics and cosmology, including works by Einstein, Schroedinger and Dawkins. Each chapter recommends one or more classic books and provides an entertaining account of the discovery, a vivid sketch of the scientist-writer and a clear explanation of any technical issues. The Story of Science reveals science to be a human pursuit-an essential, often deeply personal, sometimes flawed, frequently brilliant way of understanding the world.

• ISBN10: 0393243273
• ISBN13: 9780393243277
• Publish Date: 11 May 2015
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: W. W. Norton & Company
• Format: eBook
• Pages: 320
• Language: English

Reviews

[MurderByDeath]

This book deserves more than the three stars I'm giving it; it's a really well-written book with citations and references out the wazoo, but that was its handicap when it comes to the audiobook.   

The narrator was excellent and I found the information interesting, but the purpose of the book - a precis of all the ground-breaking science in history - does not lend itself to easy listening.  Each chapter ended with references to books pertaining to the relevant science, including which editions are better than others, which are available in ebook, and sometimes which chapters of which books to focus on or ignore.  Listening to a narrator spell all this out, often including website addresses, was tedious in the extreme; there are only so many times you can hear even the most cultured British voice say "go to h t t p colon slash slash..." before you want to start banging your head on the steering wheel.   

For all that though, I think I'm giving the book a bum rap; it really deserves a higher rating, but it also deserves to be read in print form (or ebook).  I'm definitely going to buy it so I can re-read the bits I missed because of all the head-banging.